Parking in Chicago

[nw_hunter]

If you work downtown Chicago you had better make more than minimum wage!
When will the lunacy in our once great nation end..............Or will it only get worse?

I live near the small town of Roseburg Or.The small business owners in the down town area suffer because most people flock to the Malls to shop. To make matters worse, the City charges a fee to park, so another reason not to shop there. I miss the 50's and 60's


Chicago street parking rates are going up -- again.

The third of five scheduled annual rate increases is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. But it probably will take several weeks or so to reprogram all of the 4,100 electronic boxes, and drivers will be able to park at the old rates until they are.

Here's what you'll have to pay:
--$5 an hour (up from $4.25) in the downtown area (bounded by the south side of Congress Parkway on the south, Lake Michigan on the east, the north side of Wacker Drive on the north, and the west side of Wacker on the west).

--$3 an hour (up from $2.50) in areas adjacent to downtown (bounded by the south side of Roosevelt Road on the south, Lake Michigan on the east, the north side of North Avenue on the North and the west side of Halsted Street on the west. Included are River North, the Gold Coast, parts of Lincoln Park and the Near North Side).

--$1.50 an hour (up from $1.25) in outlying neighborhoods.

According to published reports,  Chicago will continue to have the highest downtown parking rates in the country, topping New York's $3.75 an hour and Los Angeles' $4.

Two more rounds of increases are scheduled under the roundly criticized lease agreement that gave the city a quick cash infusion three years ago of $1.16 billion--most of which has already been spent. The agreement covers the city's approximately 36,000 parking spaces for a 75-year term.

Downtown parking  will rise to $5.75 in 2012 and $6.50 in 2013. Parking in areas bordering downtown will increase to $3.50 and $4. Parking in outlying areas will go to $1.75 and $2.

After 2013, rate increases will be tied to the rate of inflation.

[Conan The Librarian]

I drove through Chicago (for the last time) back in October. It cost me about twenty bucks in tolls to get through the place.

[powderman]

Never been to Chicago, never will. I hate big cities, I never dreamed it cost $5 an hr to go there. There will be at least one bridge built betweem Lou and Indiana. They are talking about charging $3 to cross. A working man would have to pay an extra $30 a week. POWDERMAN. 

[Pat/Rick]

nw hunter, does metro work in concert with the city of chicago?    Raise the rates and FORCE people onto public transportation that needs gooberment subsidies to operate. Hmmm.  Haven't been through chicago in decades, didn't leave anything there, no reason to go back. The only time I go downtown PDX is to go to Andy & Bax  .

[stimpylu32]

I was there a couple years ago for the weekend and had to park in a lot while we went to dinner , 1 1/2 hours with a full sized van = $30 , that was the cheapest we could find in the area and still had to walk 4 blocks to get to where we were eating .

Good thing the cops didn't look in the van , had 2 cased 12g trap guns under the back seat = LIFE in Chi-town anymore .   

stimpy

[powderman]

My brother went there years ago to arrest a guy. He parked in front of a house with a man sitting on the porch and a shotgun accross his lap. The old feller said, Leave it there if ya like young feller, it'll be there when ya get back. My brother said he had a 45 in a shoulder holster, Browning hi power iwb, and a 38 strapped to his ankle, + several knives, and he said he still felt under dressed. Yes, the  car was still there and he got his man. POWDERMAN. 

[GRIMJIM]

I live a stones throw from the city and I can count on two hands the number of times I've been there except for work. Oh yeah I've lived here for 46 years.

Stimpy, you were fine. The only restriction is the guns had to be in a case. Handguns on the other hand would get you a free ride to the station.

[DDZ]

It isn't only Chicago, many other cities are hurting for money because of politicians spending like there is no end to the supply. So they are doing anything they can to rake more money out of peoples pockets, and raising parking rates is an easy one for them.
 Pittsburgh has done the same thing. I don't live there or work there, but do drive into the city for an occasional baseball or football game, and the parking rates are outrageous. You would think that they would reduce the rates so people are more apt to park near businesses and spend money. Of coarse it is not surprising the city is hurting for money, it has been run by Democrats for the last 50 years, and I'm sure Chicago is no different. 
   

[srussell]

Never been to Chicago, never will. I hate big cities, I never dreamed it cost $5 an hr to go there. There will be at least one bridge built betweem Lou and Indiana. They are talking about charging $3 to cross. A working man would have to pay an extra $30 a week. POWDERMAN. 

and they need that bridge like a hole in the head i live about 55 miles west of lou. in indiana . wont affect me but it will the working man

[powderman]

and they need that bridge like a hole in the head i live about 55 miles west of lou. in indiana . wont affect me but it will the working man




YEP, even talking about 2 of them. Then the real work would begin on new roads to go to the same places we go to now. POWDERMAN. 

[gypsyman]

Years back, I did a gun show in Crown Point,Ind. I was listening to Paul Harvey when he mentioned that, nobody in the city, had kept records of how many tolls had been collected. Seems that an accoutant was trying to find out how much money had been brought in just in tolls. Seems that old mayor Daly had it deposited in the general fund. HMM, wonder where that money went to?? While on the subject of Daly, anybody know if there's any truth to the rumor, that a statue of him, has one of his hands out, with the palm up, kinda like, put the money there?? gypsyman

[Sourdough]

The merchants in downtown Fairbanks are screaming because no one comes into the down town area any more.  The city has installed parking meters and hired a group of people to police the metered area.  They don't write tickets they boot the vehicle and impound it.  They built a new parking garage, but the price to park there is high, and it is too far away from the businesses.  They run adds on the TV telling people to park in the parking garage and you don't have to worry about the boot.  Simple solution, go to the malls.  Free parking, stores close togeather, all inside where it is warm.  There is only one store I go to down town, they are the only one to have their own parking lot.  Down Town is dying, and it will continue to die until they get rid of the parking hassel.

[Pat/Rick]

They charge a fee to park, raise that fee, people, as said, go to malls and free parking. business' close, city looses more revenue trying to gain little, more folks out of work, cities keep spending and go bankrupt. A few years later down the road and the cities will spend millions more trying to revitalize an area they killed. Remember though that its the peoples fault, gooberment is only trying to improve things.